A film that doesn’t boast of stars and is directed by a debutant takes its time to benefit from the positive word of mouth. A smart strategy of hosting nearly a dozen screenings to select audiences prior to the release helped drum up the buzz for Pelli Choopulu . The move also shows the confidence the makers have in their product. The romantic comedy releasing this Friday stars Vijay Devarakonda (remember Rishi, the Doodh Kashi guy from Yevade Subramanyam ?) and Ritu Varma (who played Riya, Nani’s fiancé in the same film) and is directed by Tharun Bhascker, known for his short films Anukokunda and Sainma .
Vijay is away shooting for a film in Europe and we chatted up with Tharun and Ritu to know about what they call a “conversational film”. In 2013, Tharun was writing a drama titled ‘B.Tech’, which he had hoped would be his first feature film. A few false starts later he went back to do the short, Sainma . “I did it with a lot of conviction and freedom and discovered a new style of storytelling. I felt I was ready for a bigger film,” he shares.
Tharun wrote Pelli Choopulu , sub-consciously influenced by his observations of people. He loved Jon Favreau’s 2014 film Chef . “I was fascinated by the idea of travelling with a food truck, cooking and serving to people,” he says. In Pelli …, Vijay plays a guy who loves to cook. “He is all heart and a bit lazy. Ritu plays a girl who’s practical, independent, and a clear decision maker. I threw these two characters together and saw how the plot progressed. It’s like a date when they meet for a ‘Pelli Choopulu’ and running a food truck is like a live-in relationship, as they sort out finances and realise their dreams. It’s a modern day relationship within the traditional framework,” explains Tharun.
While writing, he used the character arcs of Judd Apatow’s Knocked Up as references and consciously re-wrote one scene that he felt, looked like a Mani Ratnam film. The idea was not to end up with a me-too version of established films or filmmakers.
For Ritu, who knew Tharun since her modelling days and worked with him in Anukokunda , the strong character was a magnet. “I was fortunate to get important roles in Yevade… and Prema Ishq Kadhal . But this film is closest to my heart, with a full-length role,” she says. Ritu read the bound script and had many discussions during the pre-production workshop.
Telugu cinema has had a few rom-coms and Tharun observes that both in shorts and features, he’s seen never-ending debates on what love is, the role of the people involved and who gets a raw deal. “I wanted a light-hearted story with realistic characters,” he says. Tharun was confident he could pique the curiosity of a producer within a 20-minute narration. “Within 15 minutes, the producer (Raj Kandukuri) said let’s do the film. I thought he was pulling a fast one, but he was serious,” he recalls.
Tharun decided to shoot in sync sound, to make it look authentic and to ensure discipline on the sets. “Normally there’s ambient noise on a film set. People are discussing a new release or what they ate and so on. There’s silence when you shoot in sync sound. Everyone is focusing and magic happens,” he says.
Ritu being a North Indian who grew up in Hyderabad, had learnt her lines and dubbed in her previous films, but shooting in sync sound required her to go a step better. “I am more confident about speaking in Telugu now,” she beams.
Many of the crew members had worked with Tharun in his short films. “Ninety per cent of the crew are friends that I grew up with, from the executive producer Ranjith to Tanvi Desai who does the publicity, cinematographer Nagesh and my wife Lata did the production design. Making the film was like poetry,” he signs off.
Oh honey!
Food styling for the large screen is tricky. Bangalore-based Siddhanth Sawkar, who lent his food truck Spitfire BBQ for some of the scenes, offered tips on food styling and lighting. “For a recipe that required honey, we used motor oil to show that viscosity on screen. So not everything you see on screen is edible,” laughs Tharun. Incidentally, Siddhanth and his partner Gauthami Shankar fell in love during their entrepreneurial venture. “I was happy when they told me they decided to get married. An incident they narrated from their life is incorporated in the film,” says Tharun.
